Rudin, former Mack-Cali CEO, to join Savills Studley as president

Mitchell E. Rudin — file photo

By Joshua Burd

Former Mack-Cali Realty Corp. CEO Mitchell E. Rudin is returning to New York City, joining Savills Studley as its next president.

Savills Studley Chairman and CEO Mitchell S. Steir announced Tuesday that Rudin will join the firm starting Oct. 1 and assume the role of president on Jan. 1. He will succeed Michael Colacino, who is stepping down at year-end after a 27-year run at the tenant-focused commercial real estate services firm.

Rudin, a commercial real estate veteran, recently left Mack-Cali after two years as its CEO and more than a year as vice chairman. Along with current CEO Michael DeMarco, he was part of the team brought in to overhaul and right-size the company’s sprawling office portfolio and focus on the state’s high-end submarkets, while ramping up its multifamily business.

“I am confident that, in Mitch Rudin, we have found the best possible candidate to replace Michael as president,” Steir said in a prepared statement. “Over the course of his remarkable career, Mitch has expertly guided some of the country’s leading real estate service and development firms through periods of rapid growth and dramatic transformation.

“We have no doubt that he will usher in a similar era of progress and accomplishment at Savills Studley.”

From 2011 through 2014, Rudin served as CEO and president of U.S. commercial operations at Brookfield Office Properties, where he developed and implemented a strategic plan and branding effort for its 50 million-square-foot portfolio, according to a news release. That included overseeing the effort to rebrand and re-lease Brookfield Place in Lower Manhattan.

Prior to Brookfield, Rudin spent more than two decades at CBRE and its predecessor firms, culminating in his role as New York tristate region CEO and president from 2006 through 2011.

“I am thrilled to join the talented team at Savills Studley at this exciting stage in its evolution,” Rudin said. “Over the years, the firm has invested heavily in forward-thinking technology and has strengthened its professional teams both in the C-suite and across the country.

“I would like to thank Michael Colacino for his impressive service and immense contributions to the firm. I look forward to building upon the company’s achievements thus far, in partnership with Mitch Steir and our board of directors.”

Rudin is returning to New York as part of his move to Savills Studley, part of London-headquartered Savills plc, which has 31 offices in the U.S. and Canada, including a New Jersey office in Rutherford.

Colacino joined the firm in 1991 and has been its president since 2002, after he and Steir led the successful management buyout of the firm from its founder, Julien Studley, the news release said. Since becoming president, Colacino has been responsible for the day-to-day operations of the firm and has led an expansion of the firm in partnership with Steir.

“I’ve spent the last thirty years advocating for the application of software and analytics to real estate,” said. “It is exciting to see those ideas acquiring enormous momentum in the industry. I am eager to combine my background in software with my experience managing broker operations to change and improve our industry.”

Rudin and DeMarco both joined Mack-Cali in June 2015, forming the two-man team that replaced longtime CEO and President Mitchell Hersh. Rudin assumed the title of CEO, while DeMarco was named president and chief operating officer.

They led an effort to divest Mack-Cali of what had been a vast collection of aging, underperforming suburban office buildings across New Jersey and the region. In 2017 alone, the REIT sold $528 million worth of property, while DeMarco projected it would sell another roughly $400 million worth in 2018.

The Jersey City-based company executed that strategy while focusing on its properties along the Hudson waterfront and in higher-end suburban submarkets, all of which are now undergoing major renovations. Mack-Cali has also ramped up its multifamily construction pipeline through its Roseland Residential Trust subsidiary.

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Joshua Burd, an award-winning reporter and editor, has been covering New Jersey commercial real estate for five years. Many industry leaders view him as the go-to real estate reporter in the state, a role he is eager to continue as the editor of Real Estate NJ. He is a lifelong New Jersey resident who has spent a decade covering the great Garden State.

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